


Extracurricular Activities

by Haethel



Category: Thief (Video Game Original Series), Thief (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Romance, Sexual Frustration, Thief: Deadly Shadows - Freeform, balance, keepers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-05
Updated: 2014-04-05
Packaged: 2018-01-18 06:13:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1418022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haethel/pseuds/Haethel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The essence of balance is detachment. To embrace a cause, to grow fond or spiteful, is to lose one's balance, after which, no action can be trusted. Our burden is not for the dependent of spirit. -- Mayar, Third Keeper</p>
            </blockquote>





	Extracurricular Activities

Keeper Logan traced the glyphs on the yellowing page with an ink stained finger. His eyes burned, but he was unsure whether it was from the smoke of his sputtering candle that cast a pale wavering light across the writing desk, or the strain of yet another long night spent hunched over fading manuscripts.

"There are those to whom knowledge is a shield, and those to whom it is a weapon. Neither view is balanced, but one is less unwise." Logan grimaced, rubbing at his forehead. There was something here. Something important, that they were missing. He needed evidence... something to prove to Elder Blake that his theories had merit. But there was nothing certain to be found in the Annals. He found only hints and shadows, and a void where the answers ought to be. It was almost as if someone had combed through every scrap of knowledge in the Keeper Libraries and erased everything that could guide them through the Dark Age to come.

He set the book aside and stood up, pressing his hands to his lower back and groaning in relief as his spine straightened for the first time in what must have been hours. A scribe seated in a nearby alcove glanced up at the movement, but soon returned to his own studies without comment. Logan walked to the balcony overlooking the central atrium of the Forbidden Library, and leaned against the ornate railing. He shook his head. Maybe he was chasing a phantom. If only the One could even activate the Last of All Glyphs, then what use could the knowing of it be to anyone? There was no balance to be found in obsession.

Soft, measured footsteps echoed from behind him, and a slight figure joined him at the railing.

"Keeper Logan."

"Elder Grainger." He bowed his head to her in respectful greeting.

"Your studies keep you up late again." Grainger observed, clasping her hands together and resting them on the railing. "I came to inquire if you have discovered anything that may be of use to me in my research. Have you found any references to the Compendium of Reproach?"

"Nothing yet that might be of use, Elder. I have learned nothing regarding the Compendium that is not already common knowledge."

"That is unfortunate. Interpreter Caduca's work to identify the Brethren and Betrayer is too vital for her to speak with me, and my own research has revealed nothing of practical use." Grainger glanced up at him for a brief moment, before her gaze slid away again to contemplate the bank of writing desks in a far corner. "Have you learned more of what you seek?"

Logan shook his head, repressing the sigh that threatened to escape him. "I have discovered nothing certain, yet. The answers continue to elude me."

She laid a slim hand on his forearm. From a distance it was nothing but a simple gesture, but the warmth of her fingers burned through his sleeve like a brand. He glanced down at her, wondering if he had imagined the sympathetic smile that faded almost immediately to be replaced by her customary neutral expression.

"It was so much simpler, before. When as acolytes our greatest fear was cramping fingers." Her voice was whisper soft, barely carrying even the short distance between them.

"Do you miss it?" He covered her hand with his own. "Do you miss us?"

She glanced over her shoulder at the nearby scribe, who kept his eyes firmly on the parchment before him, gifting them the illusion of privacy. "To grow attached is to lose balance. To find balance it was necessary for me to put attachment aside."

Logan stroked his thumb across the back of her hand. The shudder that worked its way through her was faint but unmistakable. "You haven't answered my question."

Grainger looked down at their clasped hands. Her shoulder brushed against his, though anyone observing them would have seen nothing.

"The Council demands so much of your time. I have seen so little of you these past weeks."

"I have so little time to myself, now. It makes the few moments I have that much more precious."

Flicking his eyes over to the scribe again to make sure of their privacy, Logan brushed his fingers across her cheek. She turned her cheek to press against his touch, her eyes drifting closed. He leaned closer to her, murmuring softly. "There is something I can show you that may be of interest."

She followed him back to his writing desk in the alcove between two bookshelves. The angle of the shelves was just deep enough to shield them from view, though the scratching of the scribe's pen in the next alcove served to remind them just how exposed they truly were.

Logan took her hands, clasping them between his own palms and bringing them to his lips. "Maybe you can set attachments aside so easily, but I have no balance without you."

She closed her eyes, tilting her head back. He leaned down and brushed his lips gently against hers. She took a step closer, pressing herself against him. "Nor I without you."

His hand dropped to her shoulder, glancing at her in silent question. She nodded, her expression melting into a sweet smile. Her hands moved to the fastenings on his robe, pausing for a moment until he nodded before working the clasp open. He pulled her close, trailing his fingers down her spine until she shuddered, arching herself against him. Heat blossomed suddenly within him, and despite his efforts to contain it, a gasp escaped from his lips.

The scribe coughed in the nearby alcove and they froze, not even daring to breathe.

Long seconds passed in tense silence before they heard the sound of a pen being dipped in an inkwell and shaken gently to remove an excess of ink. When the soft scratch of pen on parchment finally resumed, they breathed twin exhales of relief.

Logan's hands worked their way beneath her robe, sliding deeper as she leaned back against the writing desk, carelessly shoving pages aside in her eagerness. Her hot breath ghosted across his chest as he bent over her, and he shivered with anticipation as she bit gently into his shoulder in an effort to stifle the groan that threatened to spill from her.

"Keeper Logan?" Brisk footsteps approached their alcove.

He jumped back as if scalded, hands scrabbling at his robe fastenings with panicked clumsiness. Grainger jerked backward, dislodging a stack of papers and sending a slim volume tumbling to the floor where it landed with a painfully loud thud. She swallowed several times, closing her eyes and rubbing her hands across her face.

"Keeper Logan? Ah, Elder Grainger. I did not expect to find you here. My greetings to you." Elder Blake inclined her head to them both, her sharp eyes flicking between the pair.

"It was necessary for me to consult with Keeper Logan regarding the Compendium." Grainger's face was impassive, expressionless, daring Blake to say anything. She nodded to Logan. "My thanks for your insights. You have given me much to think about." She smiled to Blake before brushing past her to exit the Library and make her escape.

Logan bent to retrieve the fallen book, brushing the dust away with his fingers and returning it to the desk, using the motion to steady his thudding pulse. By the time he straightened, he had rediscovered a degree of balance and was able to keep his voice steady. "Was there something I can do for you, Elder Blake?"

"I wished to learn how your research is progressing."

Logan was careful to bury his frustration before it could reveal itself and betray him. "I have found nothing definite as yet, though I hope to have some preliminary conclusions for you in a few days."

Elder Blake nodded. "That will be satisfactory. I will await your report."

Blake's footsteps echoed as she crossed the balcony and departed. Logan muttered a string of silent curses as he restored order to his desk and returned to his seat. A trail of ink had spilled across several of his pages, obliterating his notes. He heard a whisper of movement behind him and looked round. The scribe was standing by the bookcase, clutching a small stack of papers to his chest.

"Have a good night, Brother Keeper." The scribe offered him a quick, furtive smile before turning and walking away, leaving Logan alone in the Library with his thoughts.

**Author's Note:**

> Elder Grainger and an unnamed scribe are overheard discussing their search for the Compendium of Reproach in the Keeper Library on day 3 in the City hub.  
> Keeper Logan and Elder Blake are overheard discussing the Last of All Glyphs and the One True Keeper in the library in the Keeper Compound during the mission "Of Brethren... And Betrayers".
> 
> Written for the prompt: Can I get a fic with a couple of Keepers trying to have sex but IT'S DIFFICULT because there's zero privacy in the Keeper compound and oh my god they're not even supposed to be having sex anyway, it's so unbalanced. Hell, you can even throw in a little "We Might Get Caught" kink in there if you like. Keepers can be m/m, f/f, m/f, OC's, canon characters, whatever. Just give me awkward, sexually frustrated nerds trying to have some private time in a closet or something.


End file.
